Weak EU growth and the coronavirus weigh on stocks

Global stocks are down again today after the release of disappointing economic data on European economies, as the virus keeps spreading and threatens to hamper economic growth.

 

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%, the Stoxx Europe 600 gauge lost 0.3% while stocks in Asia were mixed.

France's activity slowed down in the fourth quarter, weighed-down by the strikes opposing pension reforms. Italy's economy also contracted, and the euro area growth was slower-than-expected.

After Apple and Tesla on Tuesday and Microsoft on Wednesday, Amazon.com delivered amazing results on Thursday. The e-commerce giant saw its share progress by nearly 10% off session. On this basis, Jeff Bezos's group could get very close to $1 trillion in capitalization by joining Alphabet, behind Apple and Microsoft. The pulling power of these stocks is still breathtaking.

In China, the peak of the coronavirus epidemic has not yet been reached, as the authorities have counted nearly 2,000 new cases since yesterday, bringing the total to around 9,700 infected individuals. The death toll now stands at 213 people, up from 170 24 hours earlier. The WHO, which met yesterday, finally declared a public health emergency of international concern (but did not call for a freeze on international travel, leading to an oil bounce). Several countries have advised their nationals not to travel to China, in particular the United States and Italy. A few cases have still been identified outside the former Middle Kingdom, but no deaths have been reported at the time of writing.

The United Kingdom will leave the Union at 11 pm GMT, after the long and tortuous process that began with the referendum in June 2016. The transition period is not over as both parties have until the end of the year to finalize their divorce.

Today, on the agenda, we have GDP for France and the United States, Spain, Italy and the euro zone, January inflation figures for these same countries and zones, then in the United States PCE inflation, labor costs and household spending and income, the Chicago PMI index and the second reading of the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index. Earlier, the official Chinese PMI Manufacturing Index dropped to 50 points.